Buffy's Final Decision
by AngelSpikeYay
Summary: Five years after the hellmouth was closed, Buffy and her friends live comfortably in a newly rebuilt Sunnydale. But things aren't as peachy as they seem. After an encounter with a vampire lands Buffy in a Los Angeles hospital, she must make the most important decision of her life.
1. The Incident

**Buffy's Final Decision**

The blood dripped from the sword like raindrops falling from clouds high in the sky, forming a miniscule red lake on the ground and then absorbing into the grass. Buffy knew time was running out. If she didn't get to the hospital soon, she would die. Again. With a swift movement of her lower arm, she staked the vampire that had just stuck a sword through her body. Then she dialed Xander's number.

Within five minutes, Xander pulled up in his Lamborghini. Ever since he became the CEO of his construction company (because all the other candidates got bit by vampires), he had been loaded. He drove a Ferrari on Monday, a BMW on Tuesday, a Cadillac on Wednesday, a Mercedes on Thursday, a Bugatti on Friday, and a Maybach on Saturday, and since today was Sunday, he drove his Lamborghini.

Xander slammed his foot down on the accelerator as Buffy struggled to breath. He zoomed through the newly built Sunnydale, all the way to the other side of town, where a sleek high rise made of glass and steel stood. They were at the hospital.

With an unconscious Buffy in his arms, Xander rushed into the emergency room, where he waited ten minutes before a nurse finally came for Buffy. "Buffy, please don't die on me," he pleaded. "You still owe me ten bucks!"

His hands shaking, Xander dialed Willow's number. "Willow," he began.

"Xander, if you called to ask if you can use my bathroom again, I told you. It's your house. You can go on ahead. But _don't_ touch my scented candles!"

"It's not that, Willow, it's— It's Buffy. She's been… injured. I drove her to the hospital, but I'm not sure if she's gonna make it!"

"No, Buffy can't die! She still needs to help me decide which curtains I should get!"

"Get the blue ones, they go with your bed."

"But they clash with my dresser. Maybe I should go with something a little more neutral."

"Oh! I saw these really nice gray ones at Curtains R S. They're translucent, with a floral pattern. I'm not sure what the thread count was…"

"Xander, we're getting off topic. Buffy! She's gonna die! Again! I'll be at the hospital as soon as I can. Should I call Dawn?"

"Nah, Harvard pre-med is stressful enough as it is."

"Okay. Bye, Xander."

Half an hour later, Willow was at the hospital. And shortly after that, the nurse came back into the emergency room with an update on Buffy. "She's going to be okay—"

"Really? Willow interrupted. "Oh, thank goodness! When does she get to come home?"

"You didn't let me finish," said the nurse. "She's going to be okay _if_ she has surgery. Her lungs were severely damaged. She needs to be operated on, or this wound could be fatal."

"Well, when's the soonest time she can get her body cut open?" asked Xander.

"She can't get it here," the nurse replied.

"What do you _mean_ she can't get surgery here?" asked Xander. "Is this some kind of joke? Is there something I'm not getting?"

"No. Since it's been rebuilt, Sunnydale only has a population of about two thousand. That means not many doctors. We barely even have a hospital here. If Bunny—"

"Buffy," Willow corrected the nurse.

"Right. If Buffy's going to get the surgery she needs, you're going to have to take her to L.A."


	2. Los Angeles

The hum of the Lamborghini's engine was like the low growl of a dog, a warning. _Stay away from me or bad things will happen_. But it seemed that bad things happened everywhere they went, so really, it wasn't a big deal. Buffy, Willow, and Xander were prone to demonic attacks.

"We're almost there," said Xander as they passed a road sign stating that they were 21 miles away from L.A.

Buffy was still unconscious. "So, should we give her a mustache? Or a unibrow?" Xander asked Willow.

"What?" Willow replied.

"I mean, it would make the whole, Buffy almost died thing a lot more light-hearted."

Willow just stared at him like he was a math problem not even _she_ could figure out.

"Oh! I know! We can give her a mustache, a unibrow, _and_ a clown nose. Oh! And spectacles!"

"Xander, this surgery is going to be hard enough on Buffy as it is. She's going to wake up in a dingy hospital room with a feeding tube. We shouldn't escalate her problems by drawing a mustache on her face."

"You forgot unibrow, clown nose, and spectacles."

Fifteen minutes later, Xander, Willow, and a still unconscious Buffy arrived at the Los Angeles Regional Hospital, where Buffy was rushed to the operation room. When the nurse returned, Xander and Willow assailed her with questions.

"Is she going to be okay?"

"When will we get to see her?"

"Is the surgery dangerous?"

"Can one of the surgeons draw a mustache and a unibrow on her?"

"Guys, guys, guys," the nurse said in a soothing tone. "Your friend Puffy—"

"It's Buffy," Willow corrected her.

"Right. _Buffy_ is going to be just fine after the surgery takes place. We're going to move her from the hospital to the rehabilitation center in three days."

"How long will she be there?" Xander demanded.

"Eh, two to three weeks depending on how well physical therapy goes."

"Two to three weeks?" Xander gasped. "I can't afford to pay for us to stay in a hotel for two to three weeks! Not without the money Buffy owes me."

"Xander, shut up," said Willow. "You sound like Anya."

"ANYA!" Xander wailed. "She died! And so did Tara! And Buffy can't die like they did! Buffy needs to stay with us so she can give me a foot massage every Wednesday night!"

"Okay. I don't know what to do about the whole… foot massage thing. I'm certainly not gonna do it. But about the hotel, Angel still owns that abandoned one. Maybe he'll let us crash there for awhile."

"Yes, because I certainly want to spend two weeks with the CEO of an evil law firm."

"Ex-CEO," Willow corrected him.

"Okay, fine! We can stay with Dead Boy, but if I catch him looking at my neck, we're going and staying on the other side of the city."

"Okay." With that, Willow dialed Angel's number.


End file.
